Lee hand primer

[blixen]

The plastic tray on my Hornady hand primer has begun crumbling. I'm thinking of replacing the entire unit with the Lee version. But the $18 Lee seems awkward in requiring thumb pressure. The Lee ergonomic version seems better but costs twice as much.

has anyone compared the two to give me a recommendation?

[bangerjim]

I only know the Lee square tray new one. Have 4 of them. I hate changing out large/small primer trays! And swapping out shell holders all the time.

I have no problem with that version of it. Takes relatively little hand squeezing to get 'er dun.

[waco]

I only know the Lee square tray new one. Have 4 of them. I hate changing out large/small primer trays! And swapping out shell holders all the time.

I have no problem with that version of it. Takes relatively little hand squeezing to get 'er dun.

I agree with Jim

[milrifle]

I don't much care for the new Lee priming tools with the square tray. The clips that hold the cover on break off too easily and the cover likes to warp. Primers also like to fall out of the area between the tray and the priming mechanism where they 'stage' prior going into the plunger. The old round ones were much better quality. I bought a Hornady and LOVE it. I really like the feel of the grip of the lever in my hand. The trays are not of the best quality, but I don't have any trouble from them.

[blixen]

Just so we're all talking about the same models:

I'm trying to decide between the Lee Auto Prime, $19.
Attachment 153051
And the Lee Ergo Prime, $32:
Attachment 153052
For the record, MilRifle, I found the Hornady quite serviceable for six years, except that it was a PITA to change bases because the plastic parts would bind despite lube and years of wear and the tabs on the tray cover were breaking off one by one—a rubber band fixed that. (Now that I think about it, it was pretty miserable piece of equipment--I just didn't think there was anything much better out there.)

Finally, the green plastic guide in the primer staging area broke off when I removed a base. I wanted to fix it, but I haven't found a replacement tray online and hornady doesn't list replacement parts on their site. (Maybe, I should call them.)

Besides, I figured I could get a couple Lees for the price of a Hornady and not have to swap bases as much.

To overshare a bit, I have a some arthritis in my thumb and I'm concerned a hundred primers through the thumb-actuated $18 Lee would aggravate it.

Thanks for the feedback, it's very helpful. My local gun shops don't carry the Lee or the RCBS.

[dragon813gt]

I have both of them. I prefer the Ergo prime. The Auto Prime works fine. But your thumb will hate you if the primer pockets are tight. I get a better feel when seating them w/ the Ergo Prime.

[blixen01]

That's the kind of info I wanted. Tnx!

Btw, I realized that the Hornady came with a Hornady base-only tray. I'm trying to "modify" it to use my RCBS and Lee bases, but it's not going well.

[milrifle]

Just to clarify, my comments were about the Auto Prime in the top picture above, not the Ergo model below it. From the picture, it appears they both use the same tray. Is that the case? If so, the problems I mentioned may occur on the more expensive one as well.

[Hickok]

I like the older Lee with the round trays, if you can find one!

[Wally]

I have one of those--with the Large Primers the rod is too short to seat the primers all the way now...seems it has worn out enough to cause this. Have a RCBS 90200 Hand Priming Tool that cannot seat Lg Rifle primers all the way in 7mm Rem Magnum cases. I told RCBS about it and they sent me two new rods, but they were both too short.

I like the older Lee with the round trays, if you can find one!

[blixen]

I've got to wonder--why is it so hard to engineer a dependable hand primer? I've got my Hornady working again, but it often tries to load two primers. Then, taking it apart to get a jammed primer out or to put a different base in is a PITA because the plastic binds against the metal body threatening to break if you force it. I've lubed with dry lube, but it doesn't seem to help.

So, I'll give the Lee a shot just to spread my money around.

[ZippyHillbilly]

I like the older Lee with the round trays, if you can find one!

I own 4 of them and every time I see one on the cheap I buy it. The old round Lee hand primer is the beans IMHO

[jmsj]

blixen,
After 25 years my Lee hand primer gave out about a month ago. The part of the body that held the shell holder broke completely off.
I bought the Lee Ergo prime like you posted above. I have primed almost 1,000 cases since I purchased it both small and large primers.
It did take a little getting used to after using the original Lee for so many years but it didn't take long before it seemed fairly natural. I watched some Youtube video reviews before I bought it, so I was already aware of some of the idiosyncrasies of the unit. I do feel that you need to be more careful on how you handle the Ergo. The small clip that holds the tray cover on does look a little fragile as mentioned above and you do have to very careful to make sure the cover is installed correctly or some of the primers can get away. Also you have to do a little routine to make sure that the primers go to the chute that leads to the primer feed, not really a big deal.
I use mostly Federal brand primers so I REALLY like the large square primer tray. On the old Lee, I couldn't load an entire sleeve of primers in one shot and had to so careful to not spill primers.
I have some arthritis in my hands and on the original Lee after priming 300 or so cases (less if they were tough) I was ready to take a break. With the new Ergo I was able to prime 500 cases with no fatigue or discomfort.
Check out some of the Youtube videos. There are positive and negative reviews you can look at. While the Ergo is not perfect I am enjoying it so far .
Good luck, jmsj

[Bent Ramrod]

I have the older Lee primer with the round trays. Priming 100 cases is a fair amount of exercise for one's thumb, and might even be painful, if your joints are old and achy. I typically use both thumbs, one atop the other, for that reason. The RCBS hand primer I have is like the Lee Ergonomic, and since all four fingers are pulling instead of the thumb pushing, it is much easier on the hands, with no loss of feel in seating.

Don't know about the internals in the Lee Ergonomic, but I've nearly worn out the linkage in my thumbdrive Lee with the round tray. It has started seating primers unevenly, and the shells have to be rotated half a turn to fully seat them. The innards of the RCBS are made of much stouter material, and seem impervious to wear. I got both of them used, with unknown amounts of prior use, so I figure they started out pretty even.

I thought Lee's idea of a square tray was pretty brilliant, that is, if it allows square primer boxes to be fully covered when being upended into the tray. Most round trays are liable to let a few spill out of the box corners when loading the tray.

Too bad about the side clip breakage. Lee's attachment of the round tray covers was more secure than RCBS'S. Can't figure why Lee so often comes up with really great ideas and then spoils them by making them out of materials that aren't up to the strains of use.

[bedbugbilly]

I use the Lee ergo hand primer and like it a lot. Once you get used to it, you can move right along. I get a good feel for the seating of the primer with it . . . seems to work well for me. I use small/large pistol primers and large rifle primers for what i reload. Can't really compare it to others as it's the only hand primer I've used other than the Lyman 310 hand sets.

[robg]

ive only used the round lee ,ive got 2 1 set for small the over for large. 1 has worked fine since82 got lazy and got the other about 5 years back

[Maximumbob54]

I have to say that I started with the RCBS standard hand primer (not the APS or universal version) and have no issue with it. The parts to switch from large to small primers are plastic but are holding up just fine. I imagine they are cheap to replace if they ever do fail. The round tray means I don't get to just set the primers in but shake for a few seconds and maybe use a finger nail to get that last one or two and I'm good to go. It's not that bad to buy an extra shell holder for your most used and my Lee shell holders work fine. I've only had it feed two primers once when I got out of time and ran it without a case. And that was my fault.

I am looking hard at Lee's soon to be released bench mounted primer unit. I've never enjoyed the RCBS model.

[Bent Ramrod]

Maximumbob,

Those plastic parts are indeed cheap to replace in the RCBS Hand Primer. I called them up and explained I'd found one of their Hand Primers at a yard sale and it was missing the Small Primer plastic guides and the Small Primer punch. I asked them how much the replacements cost and the representative said to give him my address and he'd send them to me no charge. They came in a week. Even the shipping was free. Neither set of guides have worn out yet, over boxes and boxes of primers.

RCBS's customer service is stellar.

[mac60]

"I am looking hard at Lee's soon to be released bench mounted primer unit. I've never enjoyed the RCBS model."

That's the first mention of a bench mounted priming tool from Lee I've heard. I didn't see anything on Lee's web site. Where did you hear about it?

[mac60]

Never mind. I just saw it on Titan's web site.